By Jillian Mariani,
Niyama Yoga Wellness Founder
By Jillian Mariani,
Niyama Yoga Wellness Founder
Like most Canadians, I’ve been at home with my family for a very LONG time now.
Like many, I was away with my family for March break when everything went sideways. In hindsight, we should not have boarded our plane to go away, but like many we optimistically did. We were exceptionally fortunate to get back when we did, amid closing borders and suspended air travel and I remain incredibly grateful to my husband for freaking out and getting us on flights, while I was still in partial denial.
This time has been, and continues to be so strange. My husband and I both work mostly from home anyway, so were well equipped to continue that. But with no external meetings or days on the road, that adds up to a lot of WFH time! Which is both good and bad. Our kids have taken over the dining room for their schoolwork, knowing now that their return to in-class school will be September at earliest, and we have settled into the “new normal” . As each day passes, the initial inconveniences of quarantine become less and less taxing. Our perspective is changing – staying home is feeling like a small sacrifice when so many are suffering. We have enough food, we are healthy, we can still go for walks (6 feet away from others), we haven’t lost anyone. We are crazy lucky.
But let’s face it, it’s no picnic. And it is REALLY dragging on. As an Ontario resident, our reopening will be slower and more careful, given the number of cases, and the fear of Wave 2 is very real. To go through all of this, both as a family and as business owner and then have a Wave 2 push us back into quarantine again would be devasting. So much uncertainty for all of us to deal with as we start to navigate adjusting to another normal as society carefully reopens. And I’m not the most laid-back person to begin with – I am definitely type A and have always been somewhat prone to anxiety and sleep issues. So I am sharing my coping mechanisms in the hopes that they are also useful for others. While the clichés of “We are all in this together” is getting really old, it is true. But we are also all experiencing it differently, and to very different degrees. A lot of my strategies are not new, but taken all together they have been very effective. Hope they help you too!
Jillian Mariani is the founder and general manager of Niyamaä Yoga Wellness. Jillian spent her 20-year corporate career in the Canadian Natural Health Supplements category, in sales, marketing and product development with some of Canada’s favourite brands of vitamins and supplements. Jillian holds a BA from UofT, a diploma in Nutritional Management from GBC, an MBA from Schulich School of Business, and a YTT-200H from Downward Dog Yoga Centre. She lives in Toronto with her husband and children, and teaches Vinyasa part-time. In addition to yoga, she enjoys cooking, travel, Game of Thrones, good books and turmeric lattes, dark chocolate, and beach walks.
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